Italian cannons. Although there is no such strange weapon name in the list of weapons in the Ming army in Zhejiang, Zhang Gongyan is very clear about what Chen Wen is referring to, because this thing was transported to Guangxin Mansion yesterday, and in the plan for siege, the expected effect of this weapon is also quite large.

The staff officer issued the order to ask whether the artillery team was ready to go to the flag bearer. The flag bearer waved the flag, and the Ming army gunner in the trench in the distance responded quickly after receiving the order.

"Master, the siege artillery team is ready."

In the direction of the bastion, the loading of the Ming and Qing armies was still in full swing. In the distant trenches that had been ignored, four slightly alternative artillery guns had just completed the preparations.

The artillery recently transported from Zhejiang have a terrifying caliber, and even those shells look very powerful. Nothing else, they are too large compared to the shells of other artillery. Relatively speaking, the caliber is that the gun body is very short and the range is not too far. Especially in the eyes of the Ming army artillery soldiers who are used to using large caliber artillery, this short and thick body, even if it is larger than the caliber of the giant red artillery of tens of thousands of pounds, is seriously lacking the slender beauty of the artillery in the traditional sense.

In fact, there was a Ming Dynasty, when Zhu Yuanzhang wiped out all the heroes and expelled Baoyuan, firearms were essential weapons for the Ming army. The artillery at that time was not as good as it is now, but mostly in short and thick shapes.

This type of artillery was destined to have a range that was not as good as the same caliber but had a longer barrel. Therefore, with the improvement of artillery manufacturing technology and the introduction of foreign artillery, it gradually disappeared into the Ming army's arsenal. Especially for civil servants who presided over the national strategy, range and power are the key, especially the range, so that the word "safety" can be thought of in their minds.

On the artillery positions specially built for them in the trenches, the angles of these giant cannons were very large, so large that the red barbarian cannon could not imagine.

"Fire the fire."

Holding the telescope and looking from afar, Chen Wen heard that he had finished preparing and issued an order to attack. As the flag swung, soon there was a huge sound of cannons in the direction of the artillery position.

This new type of artillery is no different from other artillery in its launch principle. In addition to its huge caliber, there is also a cylindrical medicine chamber inside, which is another special feature. The gunman's fuse is lit, and the spark drills into the medicine chamber. With a loud bang, the first artillery immediately erupts flames and smoke. In an instant, the huge shell flew towards the Qing army's bastion at an angle of up to 60 degrees at a speed that is extremely mismatched with its own weight.

The shells drew an extremely huge arc in the sky, and they did not start to fall until a certain height, and flew over a curve with a huge arc. The huge shells roared down, but the Qing army was still loading in full swing. However, the officers of Liu Guangbi and Bu Shilong were the first to notice the sound of cannons in the distance.

"Get down quickly!"

Liu Guangbi's personal soldiers threw him to the ground as before. In a blink of an eye, there was only a "bang" sound, and the shell did not hit the castle, and even the moat did not pass. However, just now, when the shell fell to the ground, a huge vibration came along the ground. In a trance, Liu Guangbi had the illusion that the vibration of the cannon on the castle was no less than the vibration caused by the cannon just hitting the city wall.

After the first shot, the second shot, the third shot, and even the fourth shot followed one after another. The shells fell one after another, and the second shot was far from the landing point of the first shot, and the vibration of the main fort was slightly reduced. The other two shots directly hit the moat, and the river water in the moat splashed, which immediately poured the area of ​​the front wall of the main fort and the protrusion on the right. They even wet a bucket of gunpowder, which was no longer useful.

Liu Guangbi and Bu Shilong looked at each other with lingering fear. The solid shells often represent power according to the corresponding amount, size, and weight of the medicines often represent power. The ones in the moat cannot be seen, but the two huge shells outside the moat seemed to have an invisible big hand, holding the eyes of many Qing troops on the main fort tightly. Even the Ming troops on the Half Moon Fort, more than 100 meters away, also stagnated in a flash.

After a while, the Qing army's artillery in the main fort was loaded. The more professional and frequent artillery training in the Ming army, as well as the existence of fixed charge packs, actually completed the loading at the same time.

The shouts of fire fire sounded between the main fort and the half-moon fortress at the same time. The shells roared in the direction pointed by the sword of the officers on both sides. It was only a distance of only two hundred yards. Almost as the shells flew out, it hit the other party's fortifications at the same time.

Compared with just now, the shooting hit rate of the Qing army has been significantly improved. Most of the shells hit the area around the Banyue Fort, and several auxiliary soldiers who are further excavating and strengthening the fortifications to make the Ming army's zigzag trench system and Banyue Fort become victims. The casualties are suddenly caused. Although the shot just now was not without casualties, the Qing army has clearly shown that it is about to bombard the Banyue Fort, causing the auxiliary soldiers to be stagnant.

In this round of artillery attack, the attacks received by Banyue Fort were significantly increased. Fortunately, the fortifications in front of the Ming army's artillery positions were also constantly strengthening. Fortunately, the front was not bad, but due to the slow reinforcement speed on both sides, it was indeed caused by several casualties from the Ming army, with varying degrees of severity.

At the same time, the Ming army's artillery also bloomed on the main fort of the Qing army. After the last round of test firing, the effect of this round of shooting was even more amazing. The shells hitting the side all opened flesh and blood mills on the main fort, and even the frontal shooting caused more casualties to the Qing army.

"During the Ata siege, the French cannon jumping cannons can cause hundreds of injuries to the defenders in the bastion every day. Now our army's artillery is closer than the French army, but the artillery has also undergone rigorous training and baptism on the battlefield. Even if the artillery is inferior, at this distance, as long as it is not knocked away, the effect of the jumping fire will never be bad."

Carrying the telescope, Chen Wen's brain was running rapidly. Soon, he suddenly remembered those "Italian cannons".

"Tell them, there is no need to worry, we have time."

The "Italian cannon" mentioned by Chen Wen is actually a mortar cannon. This kind of cannon existed in the early Ming Dynasty, but was gradually replaced by those direct cannons and disappeared into the Ming army's military sequence.

Since he was forced to withdraw his troops from Guangxin Mansion last year, Chen Wen had this idea and ordered the Military Industry Department to conduct research and development, increase the caliber, adjust the internal structure, and use more scientific aiming technology to enhance the hit rate. Until today, it has officially come in handy. This first round of shooting did not make a good start, which made the soldiers of the gun team very embarrassed.

The cannon slag in the medicine room was cleared, and the loader started loading again. Even the cannon shell was gently put in by the gunner and two gunners, and then the angle was adjusted to increase a certain range.

"fire!"

When the fuse was ignited, the members of the gun team immediately covered their ears. The shells shot out of the muzzle as scheduled, and they were still in the curve of a large arc, but the landing point this time did not fall as empty as last time!

The huge shell fell on the slope of the earthen mountain at the bottom of the fortress and did not hit the fort wall, but the vibration was even more touched by the Qing army, so that at this moment, everyone's movements suddenly stopped like time stagnated.

However, the shock of the first shot had not yet dissipated, and the second shot followed and hit the wall of the main castle directly. With the huge roar, the solid stone castle wall outside the main castle with rammed earth was torn to pieces like paper. The splashing stones not only splashed the moat, but also caused the survivors who were originally forced to climb down the wall on the Half Moon Castle.

The crying screams sounded, and the third and fourth guns fell on the fort walls one after another, especially the fourth gun, which even knocked down a small corner guard wall from the protruding part of the Qing army on the left.

At this moment, the destructive power of the mortar cannon on the city wall not only shocked the Qing army on the main fort, but also the Ming army on the Banyue Fort swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

The direct fire of the Ming army's artillery had already caused considerable damage to the Qing army, but with its strength and number of artillery, it was even more huge than the small Half Moon Fort. The attack on the morale of the Qing army was not small, but it was not enough to cause a significant decline in its morale. According to Chen Wen's estimate, there would be a few more rounds of flesh and blood alleys. When the Qing army found that the casualties would only be greater if they were fired in such a pair.

However, when the mortar cannon began to exert its power, the fort wall that had originally enhanced the fight against direct artillery shells seemed useless in front of the curved artillery. When the fort walls that had seen with their own eyes that could greatly reduce the damage of the shells became like ordinary city walls, the Qing army, which had always been very conscious of their own flesh and blood, began to put down the loading work more and more, and instead focused on the Ming army's artillery shelling, especially the loading progress of the mortar cannons in the distance, so as to find some cover at the beginning of the artillery shelling.

The defenders performed so well, and Liu Guangbi and Bu Shilong were helpless. No matter how they ordered, they could not make these Qing troops focus on the shooting again. On the contrary, the rhythm of the Ming army on the Banyue Fort did not change as a result. The shooting in this area southeast of the castle quickly became a one-man show for the Ming army.

During this period, the Qing army occasionally made a noise, but the shooting rate was much worse than before. They were probably just observing the Ming army's shooting. Fortunately, they found a hidden place before the shelling, and they also started to deal with the task of aiming and resetting.

For an entire afternoon, after suppressing the Qing army's artillery, although the Ming army reduced the firing frequency to protect the artillery, the initiative changed hands, and the Qing army's city wall on that side was already full of holes. What surprised Liu Guangbi and the others was that the Ming army did not take advantage of the situation to attack the city, but was only constantly bombarding there, consuming the Qing army's vitality and remaining morale. It was not until nightfall that it came to an end.

After defeating Hong Chengchou, Chen Wen still had few troops in his hands, and the brink of the brink was even restrained by nearly half, so his strategy for Jiangxi was limited to Nanchang, Jiujiang and Fuzhou during this period, and even Raozhou Prefecture did not even involve Raozhou Prefecture. Because he knew that the escaped guys Liu Fangming, Hu Quancai, and Li Benshen would not leave him a complete Raozhou Prefecture. Instead of wasting limited soldiers in this direction, it would be better to take advantage of the situation to take down the other key points first.

The bastion has restrained its troops, and this is impossible. Whether it is impossible, it is difficult to conquer as quickly as Guangxin Mansion City. In addition to the fact that the mortar was just transported, the speed of excavation is also a problem.

The excavation work took several days to come to the current situation. The guys were not good at it. The number of professional engineers was relatively small. At the beginning, the auxiliary soldiers were also very brave. They even opened four directions of excavation routes in one breath, which inevitably affected the excavation speed. Fortunately, with this experience, the next time will definitely be better, one will be reborn and two times.

The large-scale war has come to an end. If the Qing army wants to make some noise, they will meet in autumn. Therefore, it will delay too much agricultural production. Chen Wen, the auxiliary soldiers conquered from Zhejiang, have been transferred back all of them, and will naturally be disbanded directly when they are in their respective counties. After these days of screening, some of the captured auxiliary soldiers of the Qing army have been sent to dry food for their return home. Anyway, he does not intend to waste food any more.

Jiangxi has suffered a huge population loss in recent years. It was originally a large population province that was no less than Jiangsu and Zhejiang in terms of population. However, now it is always deserted, so the auxiliary soldiers who were forced to recruit were not limited to Guangxin Mansion, but were plundered from several neighboring mansions. In addition, some died of death before being captured by the Ming army.

To prevent them from returning home, on the one hand, save food and grass, and on the other hand, there are often many elderly, weak, women and children behind these strong men. Without them cultivating at home, the chance of survival will be greatly reduced in such an era.

The strong men kept returning home, and they would bring what they saw and heard during these days back to their hometown. I think the strength of the Ming army will soon spread to these nearby mansions, and Chen Wen had a happy attitude towards this.

After nightfall, torches were lit in various parts of the zigzag trench system as before a few days ago, and the Ming army was stationed under simple fortifications, and inspected them at night. The Ming army on the Banyue Fort also took the rotation with the follow-up troops at night, and has now returned to the camp in the city for rest.

Today they performed very well, and rewards for big fish and meat are naturally indispensable. Everyone can even have a bowl of wine, so they are happy.

A few hours later, it was late at night, but Chen Wen did not go to bed, always thinking that something would happen tonight. Unexpectedly, when he got up to patrol the camp, he saw the direction of the zigzag trench. A flag flower rose into the air and exploded with brilliant colors after rising to the top.
Chapter completed!